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Feel Small Glands On Side Of Neck With Sore Throat And Sinus Pain. Is Viral Infection The Cause?

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Posted on Tue, 12 Nov 2013
Twitter Tue, 12 Nov 2013 Answered on
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Question : I can feel two small glands on side of my neck. I do have a cold, sore throat and sinus pain but I am worrying the glands are more sinister.... I visited my gp and he said that they are there because I have a viral infection. He said they are small, mobile and soft. But i felt them a few months ago only they were slightly smaller. I mentioned it to an ENT during that time and he said he felt no enlarged glands. Is it possible they are slightly bigger because I now have a viral infection? In terms of size that they are now, i would say they are about 1cm. They are cervical glands from what I noticed when looking at a diagram.... Thanks
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Answered by Dr. Prahlad Duggal (16 hours later)
Brief Answer: Seem from your description as infective Detailed Answer: Hi, Thanks for the query. Please relax, the glands you are describing are lymph nodes and lymph nodes of neck region as known as cervical nodes. These are normal part of neck and keep on increasing and decreasing in size depending upon the infective episodes in ear, nose or throat region. Few palpable nodes are present in most of people and should not be worried about. The signs which needs to be looked for a caution are; 1. Sudden increase in size 2. Change in consistency towards hardness 3. fixity of those nodes to skin or underlying structures 4. Development of multiple nodes which are significant in size (>1cm) 5. Associated loss of weight, appetite 6. Fever which can not be explained by other things All these signs if present should prompt a visit to ENT and further evaluation. Your description fits in to infective episode and any infective episode in head and neck region can give rise to such nodes. So, relax and if your ENT does not think these are suspicious, let these be there. Still worried, you can go ahead with FNAC and any worry of yours can be tackled accordingly. Wish you good health. Regards
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E
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Dr. Prahlad Duggal

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Feel Small Glands On Side Of Neck With Sore Throat And Sinus Pain. Is Viral Infection The Cause?

Brief Answer: Seem from your description as infective Detailed Answer: Hi, Thanks for the query. Please relax, the glands you are describing are lymph nodes and lymph nodes of neck region as known as cervical nodes. These are normal part of neck and keep on increasing and decreasing in size depending upon the infective episodes in ear, nose or throat region. Few palpable nodes are present in most of people and should not be worried about. The signs which needs to be looked for a caution are; 1. Sudden increase in size 2. Change in consistency towards hardness 3. fixity of those nodes to skin or underlying structures 4. Development of multiple nodes which are significant in size (>1cm) 5. Associated loss of weight, appetite 6. Fever which can not be explained by other things All these signs if present should prompt a visit to ENT and further evaluation. Your description fits in to infective episode and any infective episode in head and neck region can give rise to such nodes. So, relax and if your ENT does not think these are suspicious, let these be there. Still worried, you can go ahead with FNAC and any worry of yours can be tackled accordingly. Wish you good health. Regards